


Side by Side

by darlingcarmilla



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Pointless fluff, Sleeping Side by Side, its rly not explicit though, realising they love each other trope, very vague mention of nudity i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 15:35:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3176868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingcarmilla/pseuds/darlingcarmilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to annoying and unfortunate circumstances (okay, Carmilla), Laura is left with few other options than to sleep next to her obnoxious yet objectively somewhat attractive roommate. Fluff ensues because why not</p>
            </blockquote>





	Side by Side

Laura walked into the room, and noting her still bare bed, (the bedsheets had just been washed) she turned to Carmilla (sitting casually on her bed listening to headphones and blatantly ignoring Laura and probably anyone else who walked into the room, it might be added).  
"Carmilla?" she said loudly, hovering over Carmilla in an attempt to be intimidating.  
There was no response.  
She tried again, a little louder for the sake of politeness, (the polite part was that she wasn't using the full strength of her voice.)  
She finally decided it was time to pull an earbud from Carmilla's ear. Which gained an instant and shocked reaction. Carmilla shot up as if someone had just attacked her. She looked like a cat that had been caught in an act of... well... something bad. She looked... vulnerable, that was the word. But only for a short few seconds... and then, slowly regaining her casual demeanor by leaning against the top frame of her bed growled "What is it?"  
"Did you get my sheets?"  
"Sorry...?" All of Carmilla's actions seemed more decidedly nonchalant as an attempt to cover up her shock at being startled. It was kind of... cute. Laura did her best to keep the sides of her mouth from moving upward. She had to keep focused. She was angry, and tired. Mostly angry.  
"My bedsheets." Carmilla appeared confused or perhaps apathetic toward this, so Laura went on, "I had to use Perry's parents' drier... remember? Because the one here isn't working." Carmilla rolled her eyes. "You promised to pick them up, and the buses aren't running anymore."  
"I... Lost track of time..." Carmilla sighed with an attempt at a neutral expression. At least Carmilla hoped it was neutral. Laura didn't notice.  
"This is all your fault! You and that stupid blood!"  
"It's not my fault I'm a-"

"Vampire? I know. I know. But it's your fault you spilled it on my bed! Now where I am I supposed to sleep?" Laura felt so frustrated and angry. She'd had a terrible day. She knew she should have had spare sheets. But she was tight on money and space in her suitcase, and she was responsible, unlike Carmilla. It wasn't her fault Carmilla spilled the blood. Laura didn't deserve this. She'd missed a few assignments because she'd been tired and worried and it happened, and her teachers had been yelling at her with no sympathy. Laf was sick, so they were absent and Laura had missed them in her classes. She just wanted to go to sleep and hide under the covers and now...  
"You can sleep with me..." Carmilla smirked as she said this. This was a joke to her. How funny. Laura actually found a lot of comfort in her bed, in sleeping by herself. She liked to be alone, and sleep and be comfortable in her own private space where no one would expect her to be nice or kind or obliging. She could just sleep... or pretend to. Now Carmilla was just smirking at her. Making sexual jokes where they had no place. Laura was tired and upset and she just wanted to stop this.  
"Fine!" Laura yelled. "Fine! I'll sleep with you!" and stormed into their bathroom and slammed the door.  
Dear God. What had she just done? What had she done agreeing with Carmilla? In her anger she had repeated this stupid sexual joke, and she let that... yes attractive, but still annoying and inconsiderate vampire win. This horrible creature with no consideration for anyone's feelings. No wonder she was a monster. Laura felt a little bad after that thought... maybe Carmilla...

But no. Wait. Carmilla was old enough to know better. She had been through stuff, yes, but she was so old, and she should be wise and understanding. She wasn't a child anymore. Nor a teenager. Laura was still young, had much to learn she was allowed to angry and upset. She was allowed to be bad at coping with feelings. Carmilla was not allowed to be that insensitive. That was unfair, and Carmilla had no idea how Laura's day had been anyway. And now... great. Now she was crying. She always did this. She always cried when she was angry. Laura hated this. She felt so weak and vulnerable and she just wanted to go to bed... but. No. Now her solace was destroyed by this bloodsucking fiend. An attractive fiend, perhaps. But a fiend nonetheless! Focus Hollis! She would take a shower... wipe away the tears. It would be alright. What she needed right now was a shower. A nice warm tear-cleansing shower.

At first Laura had felt a little nervous about not having a lock on the door. Yes, the shower curtain was good. But the lack of lock was not. She supposed it was for saftey purposes or whatever. But still... ugh. She didn't like the feeling. At first she had been especially uncomfortable. But it seemed that, despite all the other boundaries Carmilla didn't respect, she did leave the bathroom alone when Laura was in it and the door was shut. She still didn't really like changing there, but at least she mostly trusted Carmilla. She used to call out to Carmilla every time she got changed, but Carmilla never replied, so she decided to stop and just start being quick. So, anyway, she got on with quickly changing and getting into the shower. Which was, well, the first and probably last nice thing in her day. Well, perhaps the nicest. She supposed in a way the attractiveness of Carmilla's sleeping face when Laura left was kind of pleasant while it wasn't talking. Not that Laura cared about... that. Why should it matter to Laura how 'sexy' her roommate was when such rude speech left her mouth? 

Anyway. It was shower time. Laura was relaxing. Laura was not thinking about Carmilla clogging the shower drain. Laura was not thinking about Carmilla in the shower... Laura was not thinking about how long Carmilla took in the shower. As she shaved under her arms she wondered if Carmilla did that. Did Carmilla need to shave? Not that... it mattered. But she did feel a little curious. Like, had Carmilla kept her hair that way all these years? That would get pretty boring... and it would be in pretty good condition considering... and she needed to stop this. Although as she shampooed her hair she did allow herself to ponder a little how hair producs had changed through the years... maybe she could ask Carmilla... Oh wait. No. She couldn't ask. But... maybe they could resolve this. Or maybe this shower was softening her resolve. Either way... she must stop thinking about that girl, as she showered. She though about it... how she was now washing her body... and washing herself... and touching more... private parts of her body. And Carmilla was still stuck in her head. And she found herself wondering what Carmilla would look like... in a shower. In their shower actually. It was a shower that they both used. Carmilla had literally stood naked in the exact same spot she was standing at that moment. She needed to stop. This all needed to stop. She was finished, and she was stopping.  
So Laura turned off the shower... only to realise that she hadn't gotten a towel... Oh God this was embarrassing. And all the towels were stored outside the bathroom for some reason and ughh. She really should have moved them. She felt so embarrassed now, she hated this. But... there was only one option.

"Carmilla?" Laura yelled from the bathroom.  
No response.  
"Carmilla?" she yelled louder.  
She heard footsteps to the door. She was glad she'd forgotten to turn the fan on, because at least she could be heard.  
"Um, I'm sorry to ask, but could you please get me a towel. I forgot mine."  
She heard a throaty laugh from the door. Which was totally not sexy or anything, and even if it was it didn't matter because Laura could still appreciate sexiness from a completely objective standpoint. Completely objective. "Only if you beg and call me sexy."  
Oh God. Could Carmilla read her thoughts? This was mortifying. She also felt horrified of the prospect of this, and Carmilla was unpredictable... wouls she actually expect this? Laura really wanted a towel. Now.  
"Please?" she called, "I'm b-begging you... Sexy." she attempted to sound appealing as she said this but could only cringe and do her best to pretend that it hadn't happened. She felt her cheeks growing red and and the rest of her growing cold. Suddenly a towel was thrust toward her (did vampires have the ability to be super fast and get through doors... or anything... noiselessly?) "It was a joke cupcake." Carmilla drawled, laughing in a way which Laura could see might be theoretically quite attractive to some people. Obviously not in her own case. 

Laura, blushing and being as quick as she could (while obviously doing her best not to make eye contact with Carmilla) quickly grabbed her pyjamas, and ran into the bathroom to change. She decided to go with her singlet and cute kitty patterned pyjama bottoms because... well her other options were for warmer weather and were also holey and less attractive. Not that she wanted Carmilla to be attracted to her or anything, it was more that... well, y'know, you don't want people to think you're unattractive. Even people (or vampires) you despise, like Carmilla. It was human nature. Nothing... not anything else. At all.  
When she finally had brushed her teeth and walked out the bathroom she felt about ready for bed. She saw that Carmilla was still in her day clothes, casually reading. Good. Serve her right. Carmilla would have to be pissed off. Karma. Laura was tired and she wanted to sleep. This interruption would have to bother her.

"Um... Carmilla," she began in a sort of innocent voice, "I'm really getting sleepy so..." she looked at the bed meaningfully and did her best to keep her expression as innocent and annoying as possible.  
Carmilla grinned. Ugh. Laura didn't like it at all. Even though Carmilla's lips and smile were kinda pretty... kinda. Well, it's like how sometimes the bad guys look attractive in movies. And the way the little corners of her mouth twitched and her cheekbones complimented her smile... well, they were irrelevant. And Laura was allowed to notice the way Carmilla's smile was quite attractive and soft and altered all her features nicely, it was her right. Many people noticed features objectively. It was natural.  
Also, when Carmilla decided to change into her pyjamas, right there, in front of Laura, it was perfectly natural also to be a little shocked. Especially considering Laura had grown up as an only child, and never really saw other girls changing much. Especially girls like Carmilla. Girls with soft, smooth skin... and... well, she was allowed to look, and why should she be ashamed...?  
"Like what you see?" Carmilled grinned again. Ugh, the grinning.  
Laura tried to hide the shock in her eyes. "No." she did her best to squarely keep eye contact with Carmilla. Now wearing very short red checked shorts... and a very tight, black singlet which suited her very well, and contrasted nicely with her skin... Laura could feel herself flushing.  
Which was strange, because it wasn't as if she was attracted to Carmilla or anything. Was it? Because that would be ridiculous. She could never feel that way...

She found herself unable to keep looking at Carmilla but could feel her warmth and body nearing her (vampires were warm?) as she got into the bed next to her. Laura tried to stop blushing. To think un-embarrassing thoughts. Anti-embarrassing thoughts? Nothing worked. She grimaced. She decided to turn to face the wall so that her back was to Carmilla, who was facing her, and Laura could see the strands of hair from Carmilla's face moving as Laura breathed. Did vampires breathe? Even if they didn't need to? Laura could feel Carmilla's body gently pressing against hers... it was too distracting. She wanted to be comfortable and sleep. So she turned over, attempted to have the least fuss and discomfort for both of them, but actually being much more awkward and attention-drawing than she could have anticipated.  
"I-I'm sorry." Laura mumbled nervously, wondering what Carmilla's thoughts on all this were (Carmilla's body being pressed against hers didn't help), she hadn't dared look at her, "It's not that I hate you or anything. I was just a little distracted because I haven't shared a bed with anyone for ages. I mean," she suddenly felt even more embarrassed, "I mean like I haven't except for sleepovers when I was really little. But like, not much. And um... I mean," why did she even care what Carmilla thought? "Not that you would care or anything, but I'm not trying to offend you or anything, I just really should get some sleep, and it's a little distracting, b-because I never see anyone's face, and I feel a bit nervous, I guess, when I see your face. I mean not to offend you or anything, but I mean I keep seeing your hair, and thinking of you and I can't sleep so..."  
"Should I sleep on the floor then?" The voice sounded low, soft and... gentle? How strange...  
Laura suddenly felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, a sort of deep sadness she couldn't explain, like a sudden dissapointment, which she felt was a bit strange, maybe she just missed... she didn't know... "No... I think I'm feeling a bit strange, because I don't think that's a good idea actually. I think I'd sleep better if you're here."  
Laura felt a quiet laugh vibrate through the bed, she felt herself reddening again, "Ok Cutie, whatever suits you. I just thought you said you always sleep alone, so you'd prefer it."

"I mean... I thought so too, but then I felt a bit sick or something in my stomach so-"  
Carmilla sat up a little. "Sick? I shouldn't sleep-"  
Laura felt herself sitting up too and grabbing Carmilla's arm, "No no! Wait I meant like a sinking kind of empty feeling... I'm not going to be sick. Do vampires even get sick anyway? I just meant like a... sad feeling... kind of..." Oh Gosh! what had she just done? Laura looked up at Carmilla nervously biting her lip. Oh God was this embarrassing. Had she just admitted that she wanted to sleep next to Carmilla!?  
"I see Creampuff... so you're lonely?"  
Laura bit her lip, embarrassed, "Well, maybe a bit?" then added an afterthought, "Please don't tell anyone!"  
"Only 'cause you're so cute Cupcake." Carmilla teased.  
Laura buried her head in Carmilla's stomach and groaned,"I can't believe I just said that."  
Carmilla began to stroke her hair lightly, "Don't worry Cutie, I won't tell."  
Laura liked the stroking feeling... strangely enough. Even though she shouldn't... Oh God this was a crush! A crush and not hatred and... ugh... on a vampire too! She sat up slowly. "Promise?" she asked, looking up to Carmilla with her eyes wide.  
"Don't worry Sweetie." Laura felt a pang in her chest a the nickname. Oh God, a crush. An actual crush on this girl who she was sleeping next to in her actual bed. An actual girl who she liked (who was technically a vampire) and they were sleeping side by side. Oh God. This was... well, sort of what she'd always wanted. Not the vampire bit but... she'd never really imagined it quite like this. It was different somehow, being real and all. Wow. Real. And here she was thinking all these things and what was Carmilla thinking? She probably could read minds after all and this would be the most embarrassing thing in her life and ugh...

Laura slumped against the bed again, looking forward, not facing Carmilla. Even though she could feel the warmth of her body and the proximity, and the lovely scent that Carmilla had... An inexplicable, warm scent... "Worst. Crush. Ever." she thought to herself.  
"Crush..." Carmilla repeated.  
Well, apparently aloud. Dear God. Laura bit her lip again. She put her hands in her head, "Oh God, this is so embarrassing!"  
Carmilla said nothing.  
"I mean I'm sorry. This must be so awkward for you! I mean I know you joke. But... wait. I mean you're a vampire, and you can deal with this right? You're used to this sort of thing. You're... cool." At this Carmilla smirked, out of Laura's view of course, "But... I mean... so you don't mind if I stay here with you, still. Right? I mean... Not to be selfish, you don't have to stay with me, but... should I sleep on the ground? No. I mean... this is still your fault. The... the blood thing. Not the crush thing. I mean... Oh God, I don't wanna talk about this anymore, but-"  
"Laura... Laura. Calm down," Carmilla cut her off gently, placing her hand soothingly (she hoped) on Laura's back, but for Laura it was hearing her name on the lips of her favourite vampire that... well actually made her heart race rather than soothed her, but, like, in a nice way, "It's okay... it's all okay. Don't worry. As you said I'm... what was it... cool?" Laura could hear the smirk in Carmilla's voice even while she attempted to be soothing, "And... yes. I can handle it. I can... handle all of your... feelings. Don't sweat it Creampuff. Even if I didn't like you, I could handle-"  
"Wait. What?" Laura sat up eagerly, and then attempted to regain her composure before continuing, "Wait... say that again?"  
"I wasn't even finished Cutie..."  
"But the bit about... um," Laura could feel her heart beating uncontrollably. She hoped Carmilla couldn't tell.  
"Sweetheart..." 

Laura suddenly sat up straighter, and decider with a firm resolve that she would face this head on. "Please Carmilla," she said in earnest, "Please... don't tease me. I really um... have very... strong feelings for you. Kind of... maybe..."  
"Kind of? Laura... Darling... I have loved you for so very long, and you have dismissed every hint, and acted as if you hated me. You think I'm teasing you? You think this is bad?"  
Laura couldn't believe this... this... it couldn't be true. Right? She bit her lip again... something which Carmilla thought should maybe stop... or maybe happen a lot more. It twisted something inside her insides... and she just wanted to kiss... "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do any... I didn't even think I liked you... at all before."  
"Well thanks."  
"But I mean... do you really... do you really mean it?" she asked, looking into Carmilla's eyes and struggling with a lump in her throat, her heart rate sped up again.  
"Laura," her name again, Laura feel a tingling sensation in her stomach, "How much clearer can I be? You may be a pain sometimes... but I'm hopelessly attracted to you." Laura felt tears welling up in her eyes. This was so unbelievable, she couldn't...  
"Woah, woah... Cutie, don't cry. What's wrong?"  
Laura buried her head in Carmilla's shoulder, "I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing. I'm just really happy." She mumbled to Carmilla's shoulder.  
"I am too Sweetie."  
The tears did not stop. "I mean, I've never had anyone like me back before and I always dreamed... but I never though that anyone would actually like me back or anything like that and I just realise now how horrible I've been to you. I'm sorry. But I mean... I guess you've been a little bit annoying too, and all this time I thought I was just... frustrated, but I guess I was just... well, I mean also frustrated in other ways. But I just... sorry. I've had a bad day, and everything went wrong, and I've been so tired and sad, and for something so wonderful to happen I just... I didn't except it y'know? It's so nice, and now I just..."  
Carmilla lifted Laura's head up gently and smiled, kissing her softly on the forehead, Laura giggled a little, (adorably Carmilla thought, maddeningly so) and wiped away a few tears, then, looking adorable despite the tear stains on her cheeks, the next thing she knew, Laura was lifting her head gently up a little to kiss Carmila gently and swiftly on the lips. Then Laura quickly ducked her head and giggled a little more.  
"Uhm... so, should we... sleep soon...?"  
Carmilla couldn't help but smile, a genuine, cheerful smile, "Sure Cutie... if that's what you want."  
Laura felt herself grinning uncontrollably. "Also... um... do you mind if I face you while we're sleeping, and... could you maybe..." she blushed as she began this,  
"What is it? You know I'd do anything for you Darling."  
"Uhm... would you maybe... cuddle me? Like... while we go to sleep?" she ducked her head again and felt herself going redder.  
Carmilla couldn't help but laugh, "Sure thing Cutie," and as Laura settled down, and snuggled into her, Carmilla wrapped her arms around Laura, feeling truly happy in the first time in... well, possibly centuries. Well, perhaps it wasn't the happiness... but a sort of comfort with her vulnerability, finally she felt this light, happiness and comfort with someone else. Even if unintentionally, some of her sadness... fear... worry... it was a little eased, or perhaps accepted, and she felt so happy she couldn't have described it if she wanted to. As Laura snored gently... and adorably, snuggled into her chest, Carmilla felt a sort of happiness and peace, which she thought made up for Laura's cluelessness. Even if it was frustrating, the adorable Cutie was there to stay and... it didn't solve all of her problems... but it helped.


End file.
